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A SONG of SICILY 


and other verses 


& 


LOUISE KOBBE FARNUM 


'PS 3s~t! 

• Si, 

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Copyright, 1923, by Louise Kobbe Farnum 


OCT 18 *23 


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Thanhs are due the editors of 
Town & Country, Town Topics , 
The International , F/ie Reading 
Times , 77ie Junior League Bul¬ 
letin, and other periodicals , /or 
permission to reprint poems 
which originally appeared in 
their pages. 


[ 3 ] 






To the Memory of My Father 
This Book 

is Affectionately Dedicated 


1 


CONTENTS 


PART ONE pages 

A Song of Sicily and Other Verses 9- 41 


PART TWO 

Love Songs. 43- 79 

PART THREE 

Songs for People. 81-101 

PART FOUR 

In Memoriam. 103-115 


[ 7 ] 











PART I. 


[ 9 ] 


A Song of Sicily 
and Other Verses 





















TO MY MOTHER 

I would not even dare to try 
To be like you; 

The restless sea can never catch 
The rainbow hue. 

Serene and patiently you’ve gone 
Your faultless way, 

While I have taken Life as one 
Long holiday. 

The gentle workings of your heart 
Have done no wrong, 

And so it is to you I bring 
My gift of song. 


[ 13 ] 


\ ' 


A SONG OF SICILY 


Has thy fair muse forsaken thee, 

0 poet of the auburn hair? 

And painter, in thy model fair 
Hast thou discovered treachery? 

Have flowers fled before their day 

And summer’s skies been dimmed too soon? 
Does darkness come before the noon? 

Have friends and lovers passed away? 

Then come, and I will show to thee 
The rock-bound coast of Sicily. 

Her charm-enchanted air is sweet 

And breathes of happier days to be— 

For hungry souls, felicity; 

For poets, sonnets fair to greet: 

And painter, by her azure skies 
Reflected in the water’s blue, 

To thee the gods bequeath the true 
Untarnished fame that never dies:— 

0 jewel of the Aegean sea! 

0 rock-bound coast of Sicily! 

—Taormina, 1908. 


[ 15 ] 


SHE GAVE HER SOUL FOR THEM 


Why do you envy her, passing fair, 

Whose love is but stratagem? 

The sparkling jewels in all her hair? 

She gave her soul for them. 

Her gown is costly and ’broidered in gold, 

And rubies gleam in the hem; 

(Her face is young but her heart is old) 

She gave her soul for them. 

The sleeves of her robe are wonderful things: 

Do you notice that glittering gem? 

Her bracelets, too, and her finger rings? 

She gave her soul for them. 

Do you think that her poor heart never demurs 
At the pearls in her diadem? 

She’d give them all for that soul of yours— 
Who gave her soul for them. 


0, I HAVE DREAMS 

0, I have dreams that never shall come true: 

So they shall never die, 

And through the world we’ll wander, hand in hand, 
My dreams and I. 

And I have songs that never shall be sung: 

So they shall live always, 

And shed their warmth, their beauty, and their love 
Through all my days. 

And I have thoughts of something far beyond: 

Thoughts that shall not be said; 

But they will bring the flowers to my grave 
When I am dead. 


[ 17 ] 


TO AN OLD PICTURE 


A powdered wig, a painted face: 

What constant heart could e’er forget 
The measure of the minuet, 

Sweet lavendar and filmy lace? 

0 many-colored butterflies, 

And sun, far flashing o’er the grass; 
Eternal love is born to pass, 

But fettered yearning never dies. 

Step down from out thy frame, and let 
Thy sweet emerging loveliness 
Upon a care-worn age impress 
The beauty of the minuet. 


I KNOW THAT LIFE ABOUNDS IN 
SUCH DELIGHT 

I know that life abounds in such delight 
That could I grasp it all, 

And reach the dizzy summit of its height, 
My weary steps would fall. 

I know that life is filled with fretfulness. 
And I shall ask no more 
Than scattered moments of forgetfulness; 
A lover at the door. 


[19 1 


THE BIRD-MAN 

He fashioned of his brain a wondrous thing, 
Delightfully enchanting, graceful, fair; 
And rising with the presence of a king, 
Laughed at the air. 

An unforboded wind came hurrying by, 

And in its wake a spectral phantom grim, 
That hurled him from the interminable sky 
And laughed at him. 


[ 20 ] 


AMOR VITAE 

In little children’s faces, 

In age worn out with care; 
In silent cloistered places, 
The Love of Life is there. 

It braces the foundations 
Of all the loves that bloom, 
Puts strength into the nations 
And flowers on the tomb. 


[ 21 ] 


THE LONG ROAD 

The road was long and weary, 
But wound toward the South, 
For you had smiled above me 
And leaned to kiss my mouth. 

But now the clouds have gathered 
To hide the sun again, 

And all that April sunshine 
Has turned to April rain. 

When you are long forgotten, 

I shall remember you. 

And walking down the long road, 
Will dream the skies are blue. 


22 ] 


SONG 

Afternoon forgets the morning; 

Night, the garish day; 

Larks proclaim the summer’s dawning, 
Then they fly away. 

Fleet is life, and love is fleeter, 

Living but an hour; 

And they say the sun is sweeter 
For a troubled shower. 


[ 23 ] 


THE CALL OF THE SEA 

The wind is roaring o’er the sea; 

Its deep-toned cadence calls to me 
Beseechingly. 

The lingering breeze caresses me 
And lures me toward the purple lea 
Appealingly. 

A child’s head leans against my knee: 
I turn my back upon the sea 
Reluctantly. 


[ 24 ] 


THE BEGGAR MAN 

To-day I saw a beggar-man, 

And would have passed him by 
But that I turned to look around 
And chanced to catch his eye. 

It may have been a foolish thing— 
He must have wondered, too— 
That I should give him all I had, 
But 0, his eyes were blue! 


[ 25 ] 


HEART OF THE HELIOTROPE 

Heart of the heliotrope. 
Foam-flower of the sea, 

Hush of the early dawn, 

Bring my love to me. 

Peace of the morning star 
Shining there above, 

Heart of the heliotrope, 

Take me to my love. 


[ 26 ] 


I ALWAYS KNEW 

I always knew 

That you loved me, 

Just as I know you always knew 
That I loved you. 

Death may have set you free 
Of love and me, 

But I will love you through 
Eternity. 


[ 27 ] 


EMBERS 

If it were not for the embers still glowing in my 
heart 

(Embers of a love that will not burn itself out), 

If there did not lie buried deep within me 
The still warm glow of an unforgotten love, 

I could not face the silences of life 
And its awful peace. 


[ 28 ] 


MY PARAMOUR 

I have ta’en the red wine to be my paramour— 
Wooed and won the crimson of the sweet delirious 
grape; 

Without alluring love words or blushing metaphor, 

I caught and held her to me and defied her to escape. 

Now she is my mistress and she holds me in her sway, 
And I must fain obey her and comply without 
demur; 

And if beyond her sorceries I chance perhaps to stray, 
She storms and rages, fumes and frets, and calls 
me back to her. 


[ 29 ] 


A SONG OF LIFE 

Life seemed a song: 

A song whose melody was passing sweet 
With merry music for my dancing feet; 
Yet all along 

I knew the hunger of a heart within 
And heard strings breaking on Life’s violin. 


[ 30 ] 


LONG AGO 


Long ago I knew a man who was very sick in a 
hospital, 

And from his window I could see some ash cans, 

Three in a row. 

He used to tell me of all the things he did when 
he was a boy, 

And sometimes I would tell him what I saw from 
his window. 

One day an old man picked some faded flowers 
out of one of the ash cans, 

And I remembered that, once upon a time, he must 
have been a boy too. 

But I didn’t say anything about it, because the man 
that I knew was very sick. 

So I told him I had just seen a new Packard car 
go by. 

But he is dead now, and it was a long time ago. 


[ 31 ] 


THE CONVENT 

Can such a thing stand in a Christian age? 

Tear down the wall that guards its living dead 
Our Lord himself was slain: for us the wage 
Of sin is not to die, but live instead. 


[ 32 ] 


WHEN I AM UNDERGROUND 


When I am underground, 

I wonder if the bees 
Will still be humming through the grass 
Their tuneful melodies. 

I wonder if the rain 

Will have that dripping sound 
At night, upon my window-sill, 

When I am underground. 

I wonder if the leaves 
Will turn to red and gold, 

And if the frost will come again 
Before the year is old. 

When I am underground 
And of the earth a part, 

I wonder if your love will still 
Be tugging at my heart. 


[33 3 


LONG YEARS AGO 

I understood the whisperings of the breeze 
Long years ago in childhood’s sunny hours; 

I talked with birds, and communed with the flowers, 
And often heard strange voices in the trees. 

Dear childhood days, you were so quickly gone. 

In vain I pleaded: greedily you took 
My water-nymphs who played beside the brook, 
And stole the fairies from my velvet lawn. 


[ 34 ] 


EVENING 


Another day 
Has passed away 
And shed its light, 

And over all 
There spreads the pall 
Of sable night. 

I’d like to sail 
A moonbeam pale 
To some far place 

Where I could let 
Myself forget 
Your starlit face; 

Where all the love 
And pain thereof 
That I have known 

Would let me rest 
On heaven’s breast 
Against your own. 


THE HYACINTH 

As I wandered through the glory 
Of my garden’s labyrinth, 

I selected from its beauty, 

A modest hyacinth. 

Sceptic, unbeliever I! 

Yet I questioned not the story 
Dumbly told me in my garden 
As I wandered through its glory. 


[ 36 ] 


THE GIPSY TO HIS LOVE 


I will bring you bracelets, beads and finger-rings, 
And a ribbon for your ebon hair, if you’ll give me 
your heart; 

I will be your true love, your love who ever sings 
Of that eternal, roaming, wandering, roving gipsy 
art. 

I will bring you garlands, and sprays of asphodel, 
And tufts of clustering clematis, dew-kissed from 
heaven above; 

I’ll fashion potent love-charms from a glowing aludel 
That all may worship at your shrine, if you will be 
my love. 

I will bring the west wind and tame it to your mood, 
And leave it mild and tractable to be your castel- 
lain; 

And you shall be the deity of our wild brotherhood, 
And reign supreme and powerful o’er all our vast 
domain. 


[ 37 ] 


LINES 

I did not begin to live 

Until sorrow had struck me dumb. 

I never laughed or sang 

Until I had reached the utmost depths of despair. 
I could not lend a helping hand 
Until I, myself, was beyond the help of others. 
And when I saw the frenzied youth of nations 
Killing each other, 

I knew there was peace in the world. 


[ 38 ] 


TO MY VALENTINE 

If you will be my Valentine 
And come with me to-day, 

I will'lead you along a rainbow path 
To the banks of the Far Away. 

I will feed you with honey that drips from the stars 
When the moon begins to rise, 

And give you to drink from a crystal bowl 
As clear as the light in your eyes. 

I will sing you the song of the Purple Sea 
And hold your hand in mine, 

And when you are weary I’ll let you go, 

If you’ll be my Valentine. 


[ 39 ] 


BERMUDA 

A sky more fair than any gift of love, 

A sea more green than emeralds in the sun; 

And fields of Easter lilies, overrun 
With perfume that the gods have wearied of. 

Rocks, where the breakers run to kiss the shore, 
Foam, that the sea-birds scatter in their flight, 
As with the feet of love, soft comes the night 
And gathers to her breast your madrepore. 


[ 40 ] 


“QUASI CURSORES VITAE 
LAMPADA TRADUNT” 

I am in love with love, and not with you. 

You carry in your hands a lamp—my life: 
And you tend well the lamp, 

And keep it filled with oil—your love; 

But should the flame burn low, 

Then you must toss 

The lamp to one who shall replenish it. 

I am in love with love, and not with you. 

You are the mirror of my wonderland, 

The mountain pool reflecting all my moods, 
The somnolent medium ’twixt love and me: 
But mirrors age and crack from side to side, 
And mountain pools are ruffled by the breeze, 
And mediums cannot always hold the trance. 

I shall but sigh when all your flame is spent, 
For there are others who can bear my lamp. 

I am in love with love, and not with you. 


[41 ] 


1 * 


PART II. 


[ 43 ] 




























Love Songs 








[ 45 ] 


\ ' 


FOR PIERROT 

Unless I came and told you so, 

/ wonder whether you would know 
These songs are not for you, Pierrot. 

For some were written long ago, 

And others yesterday; but 0, 

They 9 re none of them for you, Pierrot. 

I’ve never sung to you, although 
I could not sing at all, I know, 

If it were not for you, Pierrot. 


[ 47 ] 


* ' 


I 


MADNESS 

Why is it that when I would laugh 
I see your sad eyes over there? 

When I would weep, I see your smile, 
A suppliant prayer! 

I taste you in the wine I drink, 

And when I would rejoice, 

The restless waves that beat the shore 
Call to me with your voice. 

I have a poet’s singing heart, 

And yet I cannot sing: 

I am a bird that tries to fly 
And has a broken wing. 


[49 1 


AFTERGLOW 

Hast thou forgotten, dear, those wonder-nights 
Whose memory lies deep-mirrored in my soul; 
How, creeping silver-sandaled from the heights. 
Dear darkness veiled us in her sable stole? 

0 sweet impassioned boy! 0 heaven-lent hours! 

Within the enchantment of thine afterglow 
Pale yearning disappeared, as perfumed showers 
Fade at the crimson blush of a rainbow. 


[ 50 ] 


IDOL 

The idol that I worship 
Is not a god of stone, 

He does not sit before me 
Upon an idol-throne: 

I do not lie prostrated 
To kiss his mantle-hem, 

Nor sprinkle with frankincense 
His jewelled diadem: 

He is no graven image 

To whom I bend the knee— 
This idol that I worship, 

Made for idolatry. 


[ 51 ] 


THREE DAYS 

Three days we spent together—snatched from time— 
Three little days to help us on Life’s road; 

To ease the burden and make light the load 
That mortals carry as they onward climb. 

Those dear, sweet days may never come again; 

They were too perfect not to want to die: 

The world went on the same, but you and I, 

We saw the sunlight shining through the rain! 


[ 52 ] 


MY MEMORY 

I am the master of my memory, 

And do not heed it when it strives to be 
Master of me. 

For I have made it change its grim attire, 
And moulded all the image of its ire 
To my desire. 

And I shall turn its mourning into song 
And all its sense of injury and wrong 
To peace, ere long. 


[ 53 ] 


AND THEN I WAKE 

I dream sometimes that you and I 
Are by the sea, 

And that you take my hand and turn 
To look at me. 

Sometimes you hold me in your arms 
And draw me near, 

And then—ah! then I wake and find 
The dawn is here. 


[ 54 ] 


DUSK 

I do not fear the moon-charmed night, 
Nor yet the sun-bathed day— 

’Tis in the weirdly gathering dusk 
You seem so far away. 

But sometimes through the silent courts 
Hope, reassuring, gleams. 

And then I’m happy, for I know 
I’ll find you in my dreams. 


[551 


I DREAM OF YOU 


I dream of you in the earliest morn, 

When pain and sorrow sleep; 

I dream of you in the pearliest dawn 
’Till I forget to weep: 

’Till the rising sun, like a ball of gold, 
Steals all my dreams from me, 

And the stars retreat lest they may behold 
My waking misery. 

If ever the sun forget to rise 
To lure me from my rest— 

From visions of love and your starlit eyes 
As you hold me to your breast— 

If ever the night forget to run 
To meet the shining day, 

I’ll gather my dreams up, every one, 

And gently steal away. 


[ 56 ] 


BECAUSE I WOULD NOT 
TAKE YOUR HAND 


Because I would not take your hand 
You thought I did not understand. 

The fields were carpeted with dew, 
Above my head the heavens were blue 

Beyond, I saw a bubbling spring, 

And little birds were carolling. 

The sun had kissed the pregnant trees 
And summer’s breath was in the breeze 

And then as far as I could see 
Stretched violets to eternity. 

But since I did not take your hand 
You thought I could not understand. 


TWILIGHT 


Twilight, and the day is ending, 
Bringing joy to me; 

Twilight, and the gods are sending 
Sweet felicity. 

Twilight, and the heart unfolding 
Knows no grace like this; 

Twilight, and the eyes beholding 
Close before your kiss. 

Twilight—through its mystic mazes 
You have come to me! 

Twilight! Twilight! sing its praises 
Through eternity! 


[581 


THERE ARE LOVERS 

There are lovers one, two, three. 
Waiting at the gate for me. 

Underneath my silken spread 
I lie dreaming on my bed— 

Dreaming what could never be 
With my lovers one, two, three. 

Since they love me they can wait 
There beside my garden gate; 

And perhaps they’ll weary of 
Me, who am afraid of love. 


[ 59 ] 


THOSE HOURS WE SPENT TOGETHER 

Those hours we spent together 
I’ve woven into rhyme 
And hidden in my heart-beats 
Against the test of time. 

I’ve fashioned of my longing 
A melody so true, 

That April’s ceased her weeping. 

And all the skies are blue. 

So I shall smile at sorrow, 

And I shall laugh at pain, 

For you’re the tune, beloved, 

And love is the refrain. 


[ 60 ] 


A MEMORY 


I never let 
Myself forget 

That memory sweet-scented—miles of trees, 
And fields aflame 

With scarlet and with gold—your name, 
And all the fragrance of a June-time breeze: 
Hills that spread out with tenderness beyond 
A lovely pond 

All irised in the meadow where it lay, 

And far away. 

They tell me there is bitterness in love; 

That with it wanders sorrow, hand in hand: 
But I have never known one whit thereof, 

And people laugh who do not understand. 


[ 61 ] 


I’VE BROUGHT YOU FLOWERS 

I’ve brought you flowers fresh-plucked from the 
grass— 

Geraniums, myrtle and hollyhocks, 
Rose-mallow sweet, and the fragrant phlox 
That used to nod when it saw us pass. 

I’ve filled to the brim your crystal bowl 

With the bubbling wine that you love to drink; 
Yet my place is alone on the river’s brink, 

And the white sea-gull is my wandering soul. 


[62 1 


LITANY 


Whatever God’s in Heaven, 

Then harken to my prayer: 

“I thank Thee for my two round breasts 
And for my golden hair. 

I thank Thee for the roses 

That make my cheeks’ delight, 

I thank Thee for my eyes of brown 
And for the summer night. 

I thank Thee for the lover 
Thou givest me for love, 

I thank Thee for the quiet dark 
And for the stars above. 

And when the summer’s faded 
And autumn breezes blow, 

I’ll thank Thee that the winter wheat 
Stays green beneath the snow.” 


[ 63 ] 


WE’VE REACHED THE CROSS-ROADS 

We’ve reached the cross-roads, you and I; 

Our lovely hours are well-nigh spent— 
For we must bury love, earth-born, 

Though heaven-sent. 

So strange and sad the road for you 
That winds toward love’s counterpart; 
For me the hill-tops that shall hide 
My homeless heart. 


[ 64 ] 


WEARINESS 

0, Love found me tired 

And kissed away my tears— 
Kissed them softly, gently— 

And he laughed at all my fears. 

Love has left me tired— 

Tired—but very fair— 

I am weary—weary— 

But there’s gold dust in my hair! 


[ 65 ] 


HOLY WEEK 

They say no prayers for me; 

Yet I have prayed 
Unceasingly, above that mossy bank 
Where Love was laid. 

They shed no tears for me; 

Yet I have wept, 

While all the world in silent slumber lay, 
And angels slept. 

They sing no hymns for me; 

Yet I have died 

A thousand times upon the cross 

Since Christ was crucified. 


[ 66 1 


WHEN YOU COME BACK TO ME 


When you come back to me, 

We’ll gather all the foam-flowers of the sea 
And weave them into garlands for my hair: 

And we will spread 
A coverlet of Spring upon your head, 

And laugh at care. 

We’ll shake the apple-blossoms from the trees, 

And catch the breeze 

Whose perfumed breath the sun has softly kissed; 
And through our fingers we will let it run 
’Till one by one 

The stars come twinkling through their heaven-mist. 

And from the purple grandeur of the sea 
The moon will rise again for you and me. 


[67 1 


I DREAMED OF YOU LAST NIGHT 

I dreamed of you last night, and then I woke 
And thought you near; 

I thought I heard you breathing in the dark, 
And touched your ear. 

Your face was turned away from me, 

And through your hair 
I ran my fingers gently, for I thought 
That you were there. 


[681 


“But Paris was happy, for he knew that what he loved 
most in the universe was his very own , and that no one could 
ever take it away from him.” 


Come to me with the love you used to bring 
When birds were caroling 
Sweet songs of Spring; 

And lay your weary head upon my breast 
And gently rest 

Your tired, troubled mind, dear heart, and fling 
Your own two arms about my neck, and sing 
A little of the wondrous yesterday— 

And then—and only then dear, steal away—! 


[ 69 ] 


IN THE SOUTH 


I had a longing for the South, 

To run away from love and you; 

But here the sea is over-green, 

The sky too blue. 

I ran away to meet the Spring, 

To stand and face it all alone; 

And still I seem to find you in 
Each overtone. 

From love and you I ran away 

Lest Spring should catch me unaware 
But every flower is mocking me— 

Love was so fair! 


SINCE I HAVE WEPT 

When I could laugh I never knew 
What love might do to me, 
Because there always was some note 
That spoiled the melody. 

Since I have wept for love of you, 

I know that love affords 
A something far beyond the reach 
Of all love’s faultless chords. 


[71 


IF YOU WOULD WORSHIP BEAUTY 

If you would worship Beauty, 

Leave your play 
And follow where I lead you, 

Far away. 

If you would worship Beauty, 

Come with me 
Beyond the utmost limits 
Of the sea. 

If you would worship Beauty, 

Take my hand 
And I will lead you gently 

To the Promised Land. 


[ 72 ] 


CONTRADICTION 

0, I shall never quite forget 

Who dimmed the glory of my smile 
And robbed me of my faith—and yet 
I’ll love him all the while. 

0, I shall never quite forgive 
The strange futility of tears 
That solace not—yet while I live, 

I’ll love him through the years. 


[ 73 ] 


SONG 

Life is so short, 

Death is so long, 
Youth is so fair, 

Love is so strong— 

Living is suffering, 
Loving is rest; 

Lie with your head 
Close to my breast. 


[ 74 ] 


LIGHT LOVE 

Love lightly, like a bee that sips 

The heart’s blood from a dew-drenched rose, 
Then flies to where the lily grows 
To lie against her lips. 

Love lightly, unafraid of love 
And free and careless as a bird; 

Let fall no sigh or song or word 
To be regretful of. 

Love lightly, like a sail at sea 

That runs and dances in the breeze, 

Love when and where and whom you please— 
But speak no love to me. 


[ 75 ] 


DO YOU EVER THINK OF ME? 


Do you ever think of me 
When the thrush is on the tree, 

And the breath of summer’s dancing in the grasses? 
It is then I think of you 
When the mountain’s wet with dew 
And the wild flowers carpet all the woodland passes. 

Do you ever think of me 
When you gaze upon the sea 
As we used to gaze together, hand in hand? 

0,1 always think of you 
When the waves are dancing blue 
And the foam-flowers wander in to kiss the sand. 

Do you ever think of me 
In this sad Gethsemane 

That has bound me in with hedge of cruel thorn? 

I shall always think of you 
When the morning’s violet hue 
Breaks and tells me that another day is born. 


[ 76 ] 


AN AGE AGO 

Is it a year, or is it a day— 

Is it an age or an hour? 

What were the words I heard you say 
There in our sun-kissed bower? 

You were a boy and I was a girl 
And life and love were in tune, 

The world seemed all of mother-of-pearl 
Under the harvest moon. 

I was a girl and you were a boy, 

And ’twas surely an age ago. 

For that golden land of our childhood’s joy 
Lies covered with frozen snow. 


[ 77 ] 


YOU GAVE ME LOVE 


You gave me love—immortal love— 
Entrusted to my care 
A joy intemperate and keen 
As days of June are fair. 

I gave you love—a love as vague 
As tangled memories, 

Elusive as the bits of foam 
Tossed by a summer breeze. 

I cherish still the glorious gift 
That you have made to me, 

And welcome through the silences 
Its immortality. 

But marvel, for you never knew 
The love I might have given you! 


[781 


SINCE I HAVE SUNG LIKE SAPPHO 

Since I have sung like Sappho 
And loved like Guenevere, 

I tread the far horizon 

And step from sphere to sphere. 

On golden wings of morning 
I mount into the sky, 

And rest upon a moon-beam 
To watch the clouds roll by. 

The foam-flowers on the ocean 
I waken with a kiss 
From lips forever silent 
And cold as Beatrice! 


[79 1 


\ * 


PART III. 


[81 ] 


\ t 


Songs for People 


I ' 


SRINGTIME 

For P. E. F. 


There is a sound of music in the air. 

And violins are singing through the night; 

It is the Springtime of my life, and there 
Is song and laughter for my soul’s delight. 

Life fastens in my hair a love-drenched rose 
And blows me kisses with the breath of Spring, 

And in the garden where the poppy grows 
I hear the little wood larks caroling. 

Ah, do not slay the rapture in my breast 
Nor deem that Summer is approaching yet, 

For here and there I see a robin’s nest, 

And yesterday I found a violet. 

There is a silence that is born of love, 

There is a sweetness clinging to its lips; 

And all too soon the nights are wearied of, 

And all too soon the harbor finds her ships. 

And when the sweet autumnal days are here 
I’ll come and hold you always by the hand, 

And when your smile meets mine, to find me near, 
I’ll love you more, that you could understand. 


[ 85 ] 


SONG 

For E. L. S. 


I’ve made you laugh and I’ve made you cry, 
And you’ve done the same to me; 

We have watched the silent ships go by 
Over the purple sea. 

Together we’ll wander, hand in hand, 

Ever, the whole world through, 

For we are young and we understand. 

And I’ve written this song for you. 


TO MARTHA 

Violets for your eyes, love, 
Roses for your lips; 

Smiles of glad surprise, love, 
Never tears or sighs, love, 

Cheeks like evening skies, love, 
When the red sun dips 
Back of hill and mountain, 
Lighting rill and fountain: 

In the glad sunshine we love, 
Crimson of the wine we love 
Has no hue like thine, my love. 


[ 87 ] 


TO THE BROTHERS GRIMM 

(For George Curtis Rand) 

I love the king who lived in days when wishing was 
some good. 

When dragons for their food preferred princesses of 
the blood, 

When fishes, birds and animals were princes under 
spell, 

And Fundevogel very nearly ended in the well. 

Enchanted then (enchanting now), fair maidens 
danced till one, 

And Cinderella married well, the rich king’s youngest 
son; 

Her ugly sisters cut their toes to give the shoe a 
chance, 

But dripping blood cannot be hid from love’s discern¬ 
ing glance. 

I love the innocent delight of sweet Red Riding-Hood, 

Who met the gay deceiving wolf way off within a 
wood; 

Dear favored child, you were in luck, to-day quite 
out of date, 

For who so hungry that he quite forgets to masticate? 


[ 88 ] 


I love the Robber Bridegroom who wooed, won, but 
didn’t wed, 

Who for his past discrepancies was forced to give his 
head; 

Seized by the guests and handed o’er at his own 
wedding-feast, 

And executed where he stood, is quaint, to say the 
least. 

But you are right, dear Brothers Grimm, you keep the 
world in rhyme: 

Your fairy stories call to me across the sands of time; 

For witches, ghosts and hobgoblins relieve an old-time 
pain, 

And as I read you I become a little child again. 


[ 89 ] 


I’VE GATHERED VIOLETS TO 
MATCH YOUR EYES 
(For Sister Rand) 

I’ve gathered violets to match your eyes, 

And golden-rod the color of your hair; 

And for your cheeks two roses, sweet; but there— 
How foolish of me not to recognize 
That when I brought them near you they would seem 
But shadows of what I had thought they were. 

God could not match the color of your hair 
In any flower of his, or in a dream: 

And yet did I, with simple eagerness, 

Compare them to your perfect loveliness! 


[ 90 ] 


BECAUSE YOU ARE MY FRIEND 

For M. B. V. 


Because you are my friend, the longest day 
Seems just a trifle shorter than it is, 

And somehow all my labor turns to play 
If I but pause awhile and think of this; 

Because you are my friend. 

Because you are my friend, there is no need 
To beat my wings against the running tide: 

I ask nor fame, nor wealth—my only creed 
Is love, and mine is ever at your side; 

Because you are my friend. 

Because you are my friend, I often smile 
When tears of pity should be in mine eyes; 

And sometimes in my heart I laugh, the while 
Men tell me all of love’s strange mysteries; 

Because you are my friend. 


[ 91 ] 


IF I WERE YOUNG AS YOU 


If you were old as I am 
And I were young as you, 

And youth were fair as you are, 

I know what I should do. 

I’d understand the meaning 
Of life, and death, and love, 

And all the ancient riddles 
The world has wearied of. 

I’d tame the swinging seasons 
And bind them to the moon, 

And calm the restive elements 
Till it were always June. 

I’d solve the Sphinx eternal 
And cast it to the sky, 

If I were young as you are 
And you were old as I. 

—Bermuda, 1920 . 


EMANCIPATION 

For A. W. S. 


(Los Angeles, California, November 27th, 1920) 

Thrown off the shackles binding thee to earth, 
Broken the web that spread ’twixt life and thee; 

Severed the links that barred thy second birth, 
Torn from thy face the veil Mortality. 

No song of mine could laud thee half enough 
For all thy patience and thy calm repose; 

Conceding life thou had’st not wearied of, 

And yielding joys that future years enclose. 

Such tenderness as marked thy victory, 

Such sweet compassion: and my praise, unsaid, 

Stands awed before thee, who so smilingly 
Set sail toward the Regions of the Dead. 


[ 93 ] 


AMBER EYES 

To My Cat 

Your eyes are like two amber beads, 

And there are dark spots upon them, 

Like the spots upon the sun. 

And they flash with anger when I mock you, 
And become scornful when I laugh at you— 
Those amber eyes of yours. 

But when I am unhappy— 

When I feel the burden of living too heavy for 
my shoulders— 

It is then that your passionate eyes 
Become wells of tenderness. 


94 ] 


FOAM FLOWERS 

For Algernon Charles Swinburne 


0, I have read my Swinburne 
Since I was seventeen, 

And wept for poor Dolores, 

And wondered at Faustine; 

And little Fragoletta 

Has found my pillow wet, 

And all the heartstrings in me 
Have wrung for Juliette. 

While others strew your roses, 
Your laurel, or your rue 
Upon the mound that covers 
All that remains of you, 
Springtime shall tell the swallow 
To sing it through the year— 
That I have gathered Foam Flowers 
To scatter on your bier! 


[ 95 ] 


LA REINE BLANCHE 

(Mary Stuart) 

Thy peerless perfectness and lovely grace 

That won all Europe’s praise, has followed thee 
Into all ages. Thy fair reality 
Was a fit setting for thy fairer face: 

Men worshipped not a mythical ideal, 

But the true woman whom we still adore— 
Whose every glance made passion’s pulses soar, 
Whose acts of kindness proved her mercies real— 
And on the scaffold, Chastelar turned to bless 
The perfect woman in her loveliness. 


96 ] 


HENRY THE EIGHTH 

Your taint shall rest on England through the years, 
0 royal Bluebeard, whom no men extol! 

Yet they who censure, do they know that when 
You slew a body, you set free a soul? 


[ 97 ] 


DON PEDRO OF CASTILE 


(From the statue in the Convent of the Nuns of 
San Domingo at Madrid) 

0 raven locks and eyes of midnight hue 

That haunt me with their look of fierce despair. 
What are you doing in the convent there 
Surrounded by such faithful nuns, and true? 

To lessen feudal anarchy, your aim. 

Sevillian, reared ’neath Andalusian sun, 

Slain by your brother, surely there was one 
Who loved you for yourself—tell me her name! 
And through the gathering dusk I seemed to hear 
“Maria de Padilla” whispered clear. 


[981 


TO 


Just at the back of your neck was a spot where the 
dark hair curled, 

And your smile was like morning skies when the sun 
is shining through; 

(Did you fall at the Marne, I wonder, and lie in a 
crumpled heap, 

While the guns grew fainter and fainter, as you 
silently waited for Death?) 

Dark were your lashes, and long, and your eyes were 
the blue of the ocean, 

And your mouth was a foam-flower fair, kissed by the 
light of the sun; 

(Were you broken and bruised and bleeding, when 
they lifted you out of the trenches 

And hurried you off on a stretcher, to the hospital, 
racing with Death?) 

Just at the back of your neck was a spot where the 
dark hair curled; 

(Is it clotted with blood, I wonder, as you lie in a 
nameless grave?) 

Dark were your lashes, and long, and your eyes were 
the blue of the ocean; 

(Are they closed in a slumber eternal, or staring for¬ 
ever in Death?) 


[991 



Y S A YE 

Then you began to play, and caught my soul 
Up in your playing; 

The futile, fragile things that I was saying, 

The phantom thoughts that crowd my brain for 
birth, 

Were born away beyond the sea and earth; 

And all at once I felt the mystic whole 
Of love, and life, and death, blow through my hair. 
I could not speak—nor think—nor move away: 
Spellbound, my hungry senses drank your lay 
-And then you stopped—and left me wonder¬ 
ing there. 


[ 100 ] 



TRIBUTE 

For C. R. T. 

I think of you as one who goes her way 
With gentle understanding—one whose heart 
Is filled with love, and with love’s counterpart 
Of sweet compassion; one who always sees 
Beyond the surface of those mysteries 
That idle women prattle of in play. 

I think of you as one who has known grief, 

And pain and tribulation—one whose smile 
Has shed its rays of comfort all the while 
Her heart was breaking; one whose motherhood 
Was of such special sweetness that it stood 
In contradiction to all unbelief. 

I think of you as one, all else above, 

Who loved her brother with a mother’s love. 


[ 101 ] 


t' 


PART IV. 


[ 103 ] 



\' 


In Memoriam 


i 


v. 


11053 


1 


“Chase not too close the fading rapture. Leave 
To Love his long auroras, slowly seen. 

Be ready to release as to receive. 

Deem those the nearest, soul to soul, between 
Whose lips yet lingers reverence on a sigh. 

Judge what thy sense can reach not, most thine own, 
If once thy soul hath seized it. The unknown 
Is life to love, religion, poetry.” 


[ 107 ] 


\' 


I. 


When you were laid to rest, the ground was white 
As your beloved head, and a strange hush 
Had fallen with the snow on every bush 
And tree that grew around. The sky had caught 
The color of your eyes. The air was fraught 
With crystal clearness, breathing of the Light. 

You should have died in some great storm at sea 
That drew its power from the elements, 

And thundered with majestic eloquence 
Of your dear passing. Or you should have died 
Upon the summits, where a mountainside 
Had reared its head into Infinity. 

But as a little child you went to sleep, 

Alone and unafraid, your tryst to keep. 


[1091 


II. 


The wage of sin is Life, it is not Death; 

And you were not condemned to stay on earth 
Those threescore years and ten for your re-birth. 

The wage of sin is Life, and I who live 

Have learned to understand and to forgive 

That God leaned down and kissed away your breath. 

In some far higher consciousness divine 
I know you have found peace. That all your pain 
Was but a prelude to that higher plane 
I too shall reach. And you will welcome me 
With your old smile, and your old gaiety. 

Time will not take away what once was mine. 

For love is love, no matter what it brings, 

And through my tears it is my heart that sings. 


[ 110 ] 


III. 

Last night I saw you by the garden gate 
And would have called to you that it was late, 
But I remembered, ere the words were said, 
That you were dead. 

To-day, when larks were soaring on the wing, 
I heard you call me with the breath of Spring, 
And turned to find you walking by my side, 
Though you have died. 

To-morrow, when the dawn with crimson hue 
Shall come to rob me of my dreams and you, 

I shall have left my bed, and gone to meet 
Your noiseless feet. 


[Ill] 


IV. 

Spring has come back again, 
Playing her part 
Of scattering flowers 
To mock the heart. 

Spring has come back again; 
April is here, 

With her tears and laughter, 
Like last year. 

Spring has come back again, 
Winter has died, 

And the snow has melted. 
Satisfied. 


[ 112 ] 


V. 

I have had love such as few women know; 

I have known grief, the heritage of love, 
And futile tears that blinded with their flow 
The sanctity of sorrow, born thereof. 

The scar that runs across my heart is deep 
And hurt me in the making. It will last 
Until that hour when I, too, fall asleep 
And consciousness and memory are past. 

So now I go my way unmurmuring, 

Immune to Life, to all her joy and pain; 
Immune to all the flowers of the Spring 
And all the perfume of a Summer rain. 


[ 113 ] 


VI. 

Out of your love, you built for me 
A shining tower of ivory. 

Out of my heart, I wove for you 
A banner as blue as the sea is blue. 

Out of your heart, you spun for me 
Romance and love and mystery. 

Out of my love, I weep for you 

Tears that are tinged with a rainbow hue, 

For over the towers that tower o’er me 
There towers your tower of ivory. 


\ \ 


f 114] 


I have sung all my songs, 

Shed all my tears for you alone. 

To you belongs 

The fruit of all my pain: 

Time will not alter love, nor make me think 
It was in vain. 

When 1 am dead at last — 

Free of the world and all its suffering — 
And 1 have passed 
Into the clouds above; 

Then I shall try to learn to look at life 
With eyes of love. 


[ 115 ] 


1 ' 


I 


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